For the Florida Gators, salvaging a season gone sideways with a sensational win or two propelling them to an unlikely NCAA Tournament berth requires no more delay in securing such a win: Either they get it against Auburn this Saturday or Arkansas or Kentucky in the weeks to come, or it’s just not happening.
The good news is that this game against Auburn comes in a Saturday showcase and in Gainesville, where Auburn has not won in men’s basketball in a stunning 25 years. The strength of that streak of futility is such that a couple of the better Auburn teams in recent memory — albeit not the one that made the 2019 Final Four — came to Gainesville and left as losers even with Mike White’s program having to turn to such unheralded heroes as Dontay Bassett (12 points in a 72-66 win in 2018) and Omar Payne (19 points on 9-for-9 shooting in 2020) in getting those wins.